Each year, as I unpack our Christmas decorations, I’m transported back. There’s a box of old records—Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Evie, Amy Grant—the kind of albums that filled my house with music and warmth when I was growing up. I even have this one album still today. It was one from my childhood. It was actually one of my favorites.

It was called Christmas Sunshine and Snowflakes. Well, there are ornaments that are older than me in those boxes as well. A few ceramic pieces that somehow still survived, despite five toddlers and ten entire house moves. I pull them out not just for tradition, but for memory. Each one carries a feeling, a season, a glimpse of love and peace that still stirs my heart.

This year, I found myself wondering, what’s the oldest Christmas item I still own? And that’s when it hit me. I still have my very first Christmas gift. It’s not wrapped. It’s not placed under the tree. It’s not even given by human hands. It’s the love of God in Christ Jesus. It was given to me before I could walk or talk or understand what a Nativity scene even was.

Before my parents knew I was coming. Before I knew my own name. God had written my name on the gift tag. God had already known the gift He had for me, and God had already given that gift. Ephesians 1:4 explains it: “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, in love.”

That means Christmas didn’t start in Bethlehem. It started in the heart of God. Before the foundation of the world God planned this gift—a Savior, a Redeemer, a child born for us—and that gift is still mine today. And it is still yours. And it is still changing hearts and moving through every act of kindness, generosity, and compassion. Behind every good deed is the first Christmas gift who gave first.

Prayer
Father, thank You for the oldest and greatest Christmas gift—Jesus, Your Son, our Savior. Thank You for choosing us, loving us, and sending Your Son long before we even asked. Help us receive Him again this Christmas with awe, with gratitude, and with joy. Let every good deed we give today reflect the gift we first received in Him. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

ITTT